Your Maiden blasphemy

Not agree. The album has 6 classics and 3 of the very best songs of the band. The title track is a top 10 song.
Children Of The Damned, The Prisoner, 22AA and Hallowed are the best.
That's half of the album. Invaders and Gangland are among my least favorites of Maiden ever.
And title track and RTTH are overplayed.
 
I never understood love for BNW. Songs were good live but on album - it didn't do much for me and it's least played album in my collection.
At the time of its release I really loved the album but at the moment I don't rate it among my favorite Maiden albums ever.
I guess the success of this album can be related to 2 things: It came after the weak Virtual XI and Bruce and Adrian were back on board.
 
6 tracks are fantastic top tier Maiden. Dream of Mirrors has a dodgy intro, too much lyrics in the verses and a silly fast chorus, Mercenary and Fallen Angel are ok but only at the levels of the Invaders and Quest for Fires of this world, and Nomad has diabolical lyrics and a huge section of it stolen.
 
Bruce and Adrian were back on board.
I think that was the main basis of its appeal to a lot of people at the time. I'm inclined to regard it as a bold statement of intent but not much beyond that - the album as a whole that is (I'm not saying there aren't good strong songs on it - Ghost of the Navigator and Blood Brothers spring to mind for a start).

To me DOD was a lot more interesting - the new lineup had settled in and the band had begun to experiment again. Also it has a much more cohesive feel as a complete piece. BNW is just a random collection of songs.
 
I think that was the main basis of its appeal to a lot of people at the time. I'm inclined to regard it as a bold statement of intent but not much beyond that - the album as a whole that is (I'm not saying there aren't good strong songs on it - Ghost of the Navigator and Blood Brothers spring to mind for a start).

To me DOD was a lot more interesting - the new lineup had settled in and the band had begun to experiment again. Also it has a much more cohesive feel as a complete piece. BNW is just a random collection of songs.
I go back and forth between BNW and DOD all the time. DOD was the first Maiden album I waited for. The summer of 2003 was a great time to be a Maiden fan and the school holiday was awesome. That album came out at the end of a great summer holiday so it has great memories attached to it. Song wise, it’s peaks are higher than BNW. However I would say BNW is a more consistent album.
 
See this chat about a 4 or 5 or 6 song run, its Piece of Mind or 7th Son and thats a fact.
In terms of BNW, I bought it and anticipated it at the time, so maybe Im biased, having lived through the Blaze years but for me, at the time, it was phenomenal, like nothing they had ever done, so much more energy than anything since the 80s, finally some good production. I find it weak as a whole album now, but not at the time, Dream of Mirrors, Mercenary, Fallen Angel, all decent songs but its a real Powerslave-type album for me, great songs at the start and the end but a dip in the middle. But Im splittin hairs, the middle songs are still grand, on their own. And this is why I dont really like gettin involved in Maiden survivour games. Trying to decide if Gangland is worse than The Pilgrim has no value for me. It is what it is, you know?
 
I tend to think that lots of people who were really "into" Maiden circa late-90's/early-00's' were so enthused by Bruce & Adrian's return that they looked past (at the time) the deficiencies of BNW (& maybe DoD too) in all the excitement; the two main creative members returning, that guy who couldn't sing gone, subsequent touring, and just generally Maiden being "back". And that view has lingered on. I'm sure the same can be said for those who were around when some other earlier album came out; it makes an impression for many of the same reasons. You were in that moment. For me, that album(s) is NPftD/FotD. But I like to think I don't view those albums through rose-tinted glasses. I like 'em, but I can perfectly understand why others think they totally suck & are full of filler.

[EDIT: Kinda what NK has just said actually]
 
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[EDIT: Kinda what NK has just said actually]
Yellow card for repetition.
No Prayer was the first album I was aware of but X Factor was the first one that I criticly evaluated. I was shocked. And VXI just pissed me off. Maiden had become a bag of pish, shit artwork and shitty tunes. I still think VXI is Maidens most immature or cheesy album. Theres good moments but singin about the fuckin declination? Fuck off. All that said, songs like When Two Worlds Collide could be great in the right hands. The hands of Dickinson and Smith. When they rejoined and released an album I was in cloud 9, I had loved Maiden for years before and seen them live with Blaze and I thought I would never see the real thing in my life. So aye, maybe theres a rose tinted glass over the reunion but, for me , the first 4 tunes on BNW are the 80s that I never got to experience. I wasnt lookin back, I was lovin it, they were a vibrant band with great songs. Better tjan Buckethead at least
 
And this is why I dont really like gettin involved in Maiden survivour games. Trying to decide if Gangland is worse than The Pilgrim has no value for me. It is what it is, you know?

Exactly, it only turns people off stuff they previously liked.

Same sort of effect as people moaning about Wrathchild being in the set list, people keep reading it on here and get conditioned into thinking Wrathchild is some terrible, weak song.
 
BNW is the best reunion era album.

First four songs are classics, OOTSP and Dream Of Mirrors are gems, The Mercenary and The Fallen Angel are great short rockers, The Nomad is great and the closing song is good.

BNW is best vocally

DoD best guitar work

AMOLAD best unifying concept

The Final Frontier - still hasn't made its way into the "great" top-tier Maiden albums for me yet

The Book of Souls has the best songwriting
 
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